The following documents are incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth: Austrian Utility Application No. GM 17/2021, filed Feb. 23, 2021.
The present invention relates to a walking excavator having a superstructure and an undercarriage, and a cab disposed on the superstructure, and four walking legs pivotably disposed on the undercarriage, and an excavator arm which is pivotably mounted on the superstructure and to which an excavating tool, in particular an excavator bucket, is fastened or able to be fastened, wherein a dual-action differential cylinder for pivoting the excavator arm up and down relative to the superstructure is articulated on the superstructure, on the one hand, and on the excavator arm, on the other hand.
Walking excavators are a special type of excavator which have been conceived particularly for operating on slopes and/or on other uneven terrain. As opposed to excavators which travel on a running gear with wheels or tracks, such walking excavators have four walking legs. The latter are disposed on the undercarriage of the walking excavator. The superstructure of the walking excavator is disposed on this undercarriage. The walking legs can be individually pivoted in relation to the undercarriage so as to be able to dispose the walking excavator in positions which are favorable for the respective operating task even in uneven terrain and in particular on slopes. Wheels as well as support feet may be found on the walking legs.
In generic walking excavators, like in other excavators, it is provided that the pivoting of the excavator arm up and down relative to the superstructure is implemented by a dual-action differential cylinder which is articulated on the superstructure, on the one hand, and on the excavator arm, on the other hand. In the case of dual-action differential cylinders it is however to be considered that the maximum forces that can be made available by the respective dual-action differential cylinder are greater during deployment than the forces that can be achieved when retracting the dual-actual differential cylinder at the same hydraulic pressure. The reason therefor lies in the construction mode of a dual-action differential cylinder, as is explained further below.
Since greater forces are typically required when pivoting the excavator arm up than when pivoting the excavator arm down in the normal excavation procedure, the dual-action differential cylinders in walking excavators according to the prior art, as well as in other excavators, are typically installed such that said dual-action differential cylinders are able to provide forces that are greater when the excavator arm is pivoted up than when the excavator arm is pivoted down.
However, in walking excavators it is the case that the excavator arm is used not only for the excavation procedure per se but also for unilaterally lifting the walking excavator when traveling in the terrain. The unilateral lifting of the walking excavator, thus in particular the undercarriage thereof and the superstructure thereof having the cab disposed thereon here takes place by pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure. However, the usual installation of the dual-action differential cylinder as discussed above here has the disadvantage that when the excavator arm is pivoted down only forces which are comparatively minor are available in comparison to when the excavator arm is pivoted up.
In order for this issue to be eliminated, the use of a dual-action differential cylinder of larger dimensions is possible and expedient only to a limited extent because the lifting force when pivoting up the excavator arm would also be increased as a result and would overload the steel structure, thus the construction of the walking excavator. Moreover, a greater volumetric flow to the dual-action differential cylinder would be required in order to be able to maintain the same velocity of movements as in the dual-action differential cylinders of currently customary dimensions.
It is thus an object of the invention to improve a walking excavator of the abovementioned type with a view to ideally great forces being able to be implemented when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure and thus for unilaterally lifting the walking excavator.
In order for this issue to be solved, the invention provides that for supporting the dual-action differential cylinder when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure, a single-action differential cylinder is additionally articulated on the superstructure, on the one hand, and on the excavator arm, on the other hand.
It is thus a fundamental concept of the invention to articulate a single-action differential cylinder on the superstructure and on the excavator arm in addition to the dual-action differential cylinder known per se, said additional single-action differential cylinder supporting the dual-action differential cylinder when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure. It can be achieved as a result that greater forces can be made available when pivoting down the excavator arm than in the prior art, and in particular approximately equal forces can be made available as when pivoting up the excavator arm. This can be particularly positively used when unilaterally lifting the walking excavator, or the undercarriage and superstructure thereof including the cab thereof, in order for the walking excavator thus to be in each case able to travel and/or align itself optimally even in steep terrain. In this context, the dual-action differential cylinder could also be referred to as the primary cylinder, and the single-action differential cylinder additionally provided according to the invention could be referred to as an ancillary cylinder. The pivoting up of the excavator arm could also be referred to as lifting the excavator arm, and the pivoting down of the excavator arm could also be referred to as lowering the excavator arm. These terms always relate to the normal operating position in which a driver of the walking excavator sits in the cab in order to operate the walking excavator. The dual-action differential cylinder and also the single-action differential cylinder are preferably hydraulically operated.
In preferred design embodiments of the invention it is provided that the single-action differential cylinder, and thus in other words the ancillary cylinder, is able to be impinged with pressure, or in other words is impinged with pressure, exclusively when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure. In such design embodiments, the single-action differential cylinder is thus only used when pivoting down the excavator arm, wherein it can also be provided, as will yet be explained in detail further below, that the single-action differential cylinder is not always used when pivoting down the excavator arm, but is only used selectively for supporting the dual-action differential cylinder.
As is known per se and customary in walking excavators in the prior art, it is favorably provided also in walking excavators according to the invention that the dual-action differential cylinder is disposed on a lower side of the excavator arm. Various possibilities are available for the single-action differential cylinder. It can be provided that the single-action differential cylinder is disposed on a lower side of the excavator arm. However, it can likewise also be provided that the single-action differential cylinder is disposed on an upper side of the excavator arm. It is even conceivable that more than one single-action differential cylinder is used in addition to the dual-action differential cylinder in order to support the dual-action differential cylinder when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure. In such design embodiments, the additional single-action differential cylinders can be disposed on the upper side as well as on the lower side of the excavator arm.
As has already been explained at the outset, in preferred design embodiments it is an objective of the invention to be able to make available approximately equal maximum forces when pivoting down the excavator arm as when pivoting up the excavator arm.
It is preferably provided that the superstructure and the undercarriage are connected to one another by a continuously rotatable connection. The continuously rotatable connection is preferably a ring mount. The undercarriage could also be referred to as the chassis.
In the embodiment of the invention it is conceivable for the dual-action differential cylinder to always be supported by the single-action differential cylinder when pivoting down the excavator arm. In these variants it is preferably provided in this instance that the single-action differential cylinder, when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure, for supporting the dual-action differential cylinder is always impinged with pressure. However, variants of the invention in which the single-action differential cylinder supports the dual-action differential cylinder when pivoting down the excavator arm only when this is required by virtue of the currently required forces are also possible. In this context, preferred variants of the invention provide that the walking excavator has a regulator valve which is actuated as a function of a pressure value measured by a pressure sensor and by way of which the single-action differential cylinder, when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure, for supporting the double-action differential cylinder is able to be selectively impinged with pressure as a function of the measured pressure value. The term selectively here means precisely that the dual-action differential cylinder when pivoting down the excavator arm is supported by the single-action differential cylinder only when the pressure value measured by the pressure sensor is in a pre-determined range.
In order to be able to make available particularly great forces when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure, preferred variants of the invention provide that the walking excavator has a high pressure circuit which is actuated as a function of a pressure value measured by a or the pressure sensor and by way of which the double-action differential cylinder, and preferably also the single-action differential cylinder, when pivoting the excavator arm down relative to the superstructure as a function of the measured pressure value is/are able to be impinged with a pressure that is increased in comparison to a normal pressure level. In these variants, a pressure that is higher in specific operating states than in other operating states is thus made available by the high pressure circuit, as a result of which greater forces can then also be achieved when pivoting down the excavator arm. In the case of a selective actuation, as mentioned above, it can be provided that the higher pressure level made available by the high pressure circuit is supplied only to the dual-action differential cylinder, or to the dual-action differential cylinder and to the single-action differential cylinder.
In any case, it is preferably provided that the pressure value measured by the pressure sensor is a pressure in a pressurized line which leads to a cylinder interior of the dual-action differential cylinder that is impinged for pivoting down the excavator arm.
Further features and details will be explained in an exemplary manner hereunder in connection with exemplary embodiments of the invention. In the figures:
A walking excavator 1 known per se in the prior art is shown in a lateral view in
The excavator arm 5 is also pivotably mounted on the superstructure 2. The excavator arm 5 also in the case of the invention, as is shown here in
In the prior art, the dual-action differential cylinder 7 illustrated in
The installation of such dual-action differential cylinders 7 below the excavator arm 5 always has the consequence that greater forces are made available by the dual-action differential cylinder 7 when pivoting up the excavator arm 5 than when pivoting down the excavator arm 5 at identical operating pressures.
In order to now achieve a possibility with a view to being able to make available equal forces also when pivoting down the excavator arm 5, and thus when unilaterally lifting the walking excavator 1, or the undercarriage 29 and superstructure 2 including cab 3, respectively, using the excavator arm 5, the invention now provides that for supporting the dual-action differential cylinder 7 when pivoting the excavator arm 5 down relative to the superstructure 2, a single-action differential cylinder 8 is additionally articulated on the superstructure 2, on the one hand, and on the excavator arm 5, on the other hand. In other words, the single-action differential cylinder 8 as an ancillary cylinder in the invention is thus used in addition to a dual-action differential cylinder 7 acting as a primary cylinder when pivoting the excavator arm 5 down relative to the superstructure 2. As a result of this support by the single-action differential cylinder 8, correspondingly great forces can also be provided when pivoting the excavator arm 5 down relative to the superstructure 2.
Two exemplary embodiments according to the invention of walking excavators 1 are now schematically shown in
In the exemplary embodiment according to the invention and according to
The variant of the single-action differential cylinder 8 according to
The pressure control unit 26, which here is illustrated only in a very simplified manner, comprises a corresponding pressure source and corresponding control valves by way of which the pressurized lines 14 can be selectively impinged with pressure. In order for the excavator arm 5 to be pivoted up relative to the superstructure 2, only the pressurized line 14 which leads to the base-proximal cylinder chamber 24 of the dual-action differential cylinder 7 is in each case impinged with pressure. In contrast, if the excavator arm 5 is to be pivoted down relative to the superstructure 2, only those pressurized lines 14 that lead to the respective rod-proximal cylinder chamber 15 of the dual-action differential cylinder 7 and of the single-action differential cylinder 8 are impinged with pressure. The diagram according to
This is not the case in the variant according to
In the variants of embodiment according to
The pressure value which for activating the high pressure circuit 13 and/or for actuating the regulator valve 12 is measured by the pressure sensor 11 is favorably measured in one of the pressurized lines 14 which leads to a cylinder interior 15 of the dual-action differential cylinder 7 that is impinged for pivoting down the excavator arm 5.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
GM 17/2021 | Feb 2021 | AT | national |